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Online Image

Whether you are job searching or not, it is essential that your online image is professional and polished. More than ever, employers are going online to recruit new hires and gather information on potential and current employees. In addition using online networking sites can be a great way to expand your professional network and enhance your job search. Sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter can help you connect with professionals at specific companies or fellow Jayhawks in your industry and identify contacts in specific geographic areas.

Your Online Image

Delete inactive accounts that you no longer use and remove any potentially damaging content (photos, videos, text, etc.) that may offend employers.

Also ask your online connections to remove any inappropriate content about you from their sites; request that they refrain from posting similar content in the future.

Use common sense: if an employer printed off the content of your profile and laid it out before you, would you feel comfortable discussing what they found? Once you have cleared out all your "junk", revisit your account and privacy settings; limit who can find you and what others can see.

Utilize a social media clean up tool such as Rep'n Up to see if your social media is representing you in a positive way.

Now that your existing profiles have been cleaned up, you should add professional content to your online presence. You can add information to existing accounts or create new ones to be used strictly for professional purposes. Before you do anything else, take some time to do some "personal branding"; brainstorm unique talents, qualities, knowledge, and accomplishments that will make you an asset to potential employers. Then, as if you were marketing a commercial product, develop a strategy to promote your brand to your professional audience. Visit sites like PersonalBrandingBlog.com to learn more about the personal branding process.

Once you have developed your personal branding strategy, put it into action. Consider the following techniques:

Establish a presence on websites where you know professionals in your field tend to "hang out." Create profiles on these sites and interact with other members on discussion boards, wiki spaces, and blogs.

Create a professional blog of your own where you can share professional aspirations, track your job search process, and highlight special accomplishments or projects you might want employers to know about. Sites like Blogger.com and WordPress.com are great tools for this.

Utilize other social media sites professionally such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram to further develop and promote your brand.

Be sure you are promoting any professional profiles or blogs in your email signatures, on your resume, on business cards, etc.

Now that you have created a professional image, you will need to maintain it:

Update your professional accounts regularly (at least 1-2 times weekly) so that content is constantly evolving and interesting for readers to follow.

If you didn't already ask your connections to support your "online make-over" efforts, do so now.

Finally, be sure to do a Google search for your name regularly (at least twice monthly) and set up Google alerts for your name, email address and phone number; this will keep you stay up to date on what employers might find when they search for you online.

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